Jane Campion wins best director Oscar for 'The Power of the Dog'

Jane Campion/picture courtesy: AFP

Jane Campion smashed records and the glass ceiling as she earned the best director Academy Award for her psychological drama Western "The Power of the Dog".

This is her first Oscar win in the category. She also became the first woman to have been nominated twice in the best directing category and the only the third woman after Chloe Zhao's win last year for "Nomadland" and Kathryn Bigelow's win for "Hurt Locker" in 2010.

Set in the director's native New Zealand, "The Power of the Dog" is a character study of toxic masculinity and repressed sexuality.

The acclaimed Netflix film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirsten Dunst, and Jesse Plemons.

After she gave a shout-out to her fellow nominees, Campion talked about her love for directing and creating a world with a team of storytellers.

"I love directing because it's a deep dive into the story. Yet the task of manifesting a world can be overwhelming. The sweet thing is, I'm not alone. On 'The Power of The Dog', I worked with actors I moved to call my friends. They met the challenge of this story with the depth of their gifts -- Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jesse Plemons and my whole crew who are true hearts," she said in her acceptance speech.

The 67-year-old filmmaker, also known for directing the movies "An Angel at My Table", "Holy Smoke!", and co-creating the TV series "Top of the Lake", expressed gratitude to the film's producers and streamer Netflix for supporting the film.

"I thank my brilliant producers. Tanya Seghatchian, who's always by my side. Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Roger Frappier. Netflix, your whole awesome team embraced this film from the very beginning. Thank you so very much," she said.
Campion further thanked her family and her "home people".

"Especially Alice, my daughter here. Tony, my beautiful partner. You gave me so much love and encouragement and made it fun," she added.

Campion won her first Academy Award back in 1994 for "The Piano", also based in New Zealand, in the best original screenplay category, where she also received a directing nod.

She won the Silver Lion for best direction at the 78th Venice International Film Festival for the film, which is based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Thomas Savage.

The director paid tributes to author Savage, who she said she never met.

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"He wrote about cruelty, wanting the opposite, kindness. Thank you Academy. It's a lifetime honour," she added.